"It is exactly the kind of event we need to grow and encourage because that's what will help attract the intellectual capital — the young people — that will fuel our next iteration as a city," said Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who attended the festival. "I'd like to see it every weekend. Every weekend."

"People I know who have lived here maybe five years were saying this is something they missed living in Atlanta," said David Cox, president of the festival's board of directors. "They were just floored. They wanted to know: Why didn't this happen before?"

The event attracted more than 6,000 people, far outpacing the original goal of 4,000. Next year, organizers say, they want to add bands, stages and more food vendors.